Student Treasurers Will Get Training

All student groups recognized by the College will, for the fist time, be required to have their treasurer attend a two-hour financial management seminar run by the Dean of Students office.

After the initial success of the program when it was offered on a voluntary basis last year, Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III said it is now being made mandatory to improve fiscal management among student-run organizations.

"The financial seminars teach treasurers how to manage funds, be a part of the organization's planning process, and will offer accounting procedures to be instituted in the organizations," said Epps, with Assistant Dean of Students Sarah E. Flatley, in a letter sent to Harvard student groups last week.

A financial management handbook will also be made available.

And Epps said that starting next fall, student organizations will be required to submit their annual financial reports using the software program Quicken

This will make the reports more uniform and easier to monitor, he said.

Currently all student organizations are required to register with the Dean of Students office. As part of the registration process, each organization is required to submit its financial report from the previous year.

These changes come on the heels of a series of instances of financial mismanagement by students groups.

In 1995, two Yearbook officials embezzled Yearbook funds, leading to closer scrutiny of student organizations' budgets.

In the same year, the a cappella group Krokodiloes accounced that its former business manager has spent roughly $3,000 of Krokodiloes funds on personal items. And in 1992, $120,000 dedicated to helping childern with cancer were embezzled from Eliot House's Jimmy Fund fundraiser, An Evening With Champions.

Leaders of student groups had a mixed reaction to the new requirement.

International Relations Council (IRC) President Howard Steyn '97 said that large, financially sophisticated groups like the IRC would probably not learn very much from a seminar mainly to smaller organizations.

"We could teach them a thing or two," Steyn said.

Steyn said the Dean of Students office could have handled the affair better because the tone of the letter sent by Epps and Flatley was "insulting."

Other leader said they expect that the seminar will be helpful.

Helen E. Shaw '98 treasurer of the Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club, said that like many student treasurers, she did not have much financial experience and is looking forward to learning how to manage funds properly.

"If the Dean's office honestly believes that they can tell us things that will prevent us going to jail, then I'm all for it," he said.